April 23rd -- "God To The Rescue" 2Peter 2: 7-9
"Oh Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do? I am surrounded by evil everywhere, and I am losing hope. I am worn down and tired; I arrive home from work/school/college exhausted, almost every day; Sin seems to be getting the better of me."
Has this ever been your prayer?
Lot, a righteous man, was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) -- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteousness for the day of judgement, while continuing their punishment. 2Peter 2:7-9
Lord knew--Lord knows; Lord cared--Lord cares; Lord did--Lord does... today!
If we are to WAJD then we must trust Him to be true to His promises, His wonder, His work...and continue to work-out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Well, it has been a while (thanks for your testimony). After this past Easter Celebration I hope we are all ready, encouraged, excited, and expectent during this next season of life & ministry. Walk in the POWER of the resurrection today!!
4 Comments:
Wow...sounds like a season of despair. "Sounds"...that's what we are surrounded by. Yet it is the sound of the roaring lion (remember the previous book by Peter?) that can cause us to shrink back.
Yet I am convinced that together, as community, we can carry on. How about God's word that says that although a righteous man falls seven times...he gets back up?
What about the word that encourages us into remembering that there is absolutely NOTHING that can separate us from God's love?
How about the truth of Proverbs...As iron sharpens iron...
Be encouraged, brother. The worldview of our day screams death, lies, and destruction. You're right...it is all around us and it affects us. We struggle daily; we strive to live right, yet there are seasons --- perhaps a season that we are in right now --- there are seasons when we "feel" like we're in defeat. But we get back up...we lean on each other for strength and support...and we focus our eyes on Christ and on the goal ahead.
Together, we are stronger. And a bond of 3 cannot easily be broken. Draw upon the strength and support of one who cares and upon the knowledge that you are not alone.
...and if you wanna chat, call me at home.
Wow....this devo definitely applies to me right now. It's amazing that you can come home physically tired because of spiritual battles. You would think that it would be so easy to just have faith in God and allow him to help you solve your day to day problems...but this is rarely the case. My mind is so plagued with doubts, worries, and selfish desire all the time that I can't even think straight. It's something that I need to work on by myself, but I also need to ask support from the church (which I actually have....gosh the prayer at ridgeview is so good right now).
Anyway good devo dad..keep it coming
"...work on by yourself" you say...
Not possible.
We can draw strength from each other. Alone, we'll keep falling. And after falling so many times, we'll probably just throw in the towel.
It's just like the story of the fire: build a fire in the family room. Watch the fire grow with intesity. Then take a small ember off to the side...do you think it will continue to glow and burn alone? Not on your life. It needs the strength and the power of the entire fire to keep on burning.
Just the same with us. We need each other---more than we really can know. Alone, we'll keep falling, and soon after we'll be so sick of falling that we'll just give up and "fall" for the lies that are being fed our way.
Gotta keep drawing strength from one another. Gotta keep hanging in there, by being just what you are: vulnerable and transparent, knowing that you can't do it alone, and that in numbers and in deep caring friendship, that we CAN live together, and that we CAN live in freedom from the bondage that snares and traps us.
It is in community that we see Jesus truly manifested. It is in community that we learn to shed the frailty of our humanity, and realize that only by giving up "doing it ourselves" that we find the courage and strength to serve Christ in obedience. Jesus is always best seen in the middle of committed and genuine community.
Hey, drummer boy...don't be a "lone ranger" but a part of the crowd of believers and witnesses.
I think you're right, John.
Balance really is the key. Obviously, Jesus understood this and lived a fully balanced life. Now, if Jesus indicated that we would do even greater things...Why is it that we struggle with this balance? Why do we find ourselves tired? Why do we go in and out of seasons where our lives are less than "victorious?"
I have thought about this many times. I have wondered about the word that says, "as a man thinketh, so is he." I suppose out loud that the truth is (and the truth shall set us all free!) that it is a matter of personal choice. I CHOOSE to think about pure, godly, excellent, and praiseworthy things. I also CHOOSE to leave "the path that leads to life" and CHOOSE to follow the inclination of my flesh.
We all know those times when we "just give in" and we all know those times when either temptation or flesh-weakness takes over and lets the reign of the selfish man run loose.
So it is a matter of allowing the corruption of the world around us or it is really just a matter of CHOICE?
I think that it is about choice. But as this scripture Brian has commented on suggests that we can be and often are affected by the surrouding corruption, I also believe that we can be just as affected by the support and encouragement of the close-knit community we are surrounded by...if we find community that is supportive, if we find community that is encouraging, if we find community that pushes us on and forward---this is the "lifeline" in our day-to-day living that will pull us up when we have fallen down and give us that push to make right choices, even in the face of the darkest alleys we might find ourselves travelling.
"A chord of three is not easily broken..." The writer of Ecclesiastes understood this...The question is....will we?
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